Dodgers score six in second inning, breeze behind Zack Greinke, 9-1

Zack Greinke went seven strong innings against the Cardinals on Saturday, not walking a batter and striking out 10. (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)

Sometimes the hits just won’t drop. They can’t be bought, cajoled, begged for or designed by NASA.

And sometimes, they just fall like raindrops from the baseball heavens. Between fielders, just inside the lines or over outreached gloves. Times like the Dodgers’ second inning Saturday.

The Dodgers came up with a season-high six runs in the second inning and then cruised in behind the lock-down pitching of Zack Greinke for a 9-1 victory over the Cardinals before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 50,910.

It was not, however, all good news for the Dodgers on Saturday. Infielder Justin Turner left the game in the second with a strained hamstring after collecting one of the Dodgers’ four doubles in the inning.

Turner has been playing extremely well for the Dodgers for over six weeks. Since May 11 he is hitting .374 (37 for 99) with 17 RBI. He had been the main replacement for Juan Uribe when he was on the disabled list; Uribe missed almost five weeks with a hamstring injury of his own.

Most of the damage done by the Dodgers in the second came from what might be described as well-placed hits off Lance Lynn (8-6).

After Andre Ethier singled off the glove of shortstop Daniel Descalso, he scored all the way from first on Turner’s double into the right-field corner. A.J. Ellis doubled in one and Dee Gordon’s ground-rule double scored another.

There were a couple of walks, two wild pitches from Lynn, a soft single from Adrian Gonzales, a bloop hit by Matt Kemp, an Ethier pop-up double that fell between three Cardinals, and the Dodgers had a fat 7-0 lead.

It was more than enough for Greinke (10-4), who held the Cardinals to a Matt Carpenter solo home run in the third.

Greinke went seven strong innings, not walking a batter and striking out 10. He allowed only four hits. He was what you might call, in control. Of course, give an ace like Greinke an early seven-run lead to work with, and that kind of performance is pretty much expected.

Paul Maholm pitched a perfect eighth, and despite loading the bases, Chris Perez threw a scoreless ninth for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers did score again in the eighth on some poor St. Louis fielding and a two-run single by Juan Uribe.